Southern Boone County High School Receives Extra Money for Its New Science Lab

Boone County - Extra money? That's probably every school wishes to have. Fortunately for Southern Boone County High School, a grant of $15,000 came just a few months before the anticipated construction of a new science lab supported by district funds. The grant comes from GTECH Corporation, the online lottery service company for the Missouri Lottery, and will provide some advanced equipment that the science labs currently don't have.

" I am totally excited", said Angie Nichols, a chemistry teacher at the school. Nichols said the new science lab with the new equipment will be able to offer experiences for students that they'll see in the future - not just in college but also in their full-time jobs.

Many students share this though with Nichols. Michael Tompkins, who wants to further his science study in computer science, said that new lab will give him more of a science setting and better prepare them for college. "It's not like just throwing you into a pool when you don't know how to swim, you're at least going to know how to use the equipment you're being given," said Tompkins.

With the new equipment the students are also more likely to receive accurate data and conduct the experiment in small groups, said Nichols. Additionally, this new lab will be the model for further improvements of other science labs in general.

Carolyn Deffenbaugh, the assistant superintendent of the school district, said that with only one new lab and three old ones, teachers may need to rotate among those classrooms and see who get to use the new lab on a given day, but it's already much better than what they have right now. The items they are purchasing will help them get closer to the ideal situation.